Two New Websites: Saving Jewish Families One Match at a Time

The latest surveys paint an alarming picture of intermarriage in the Jewish community: 47% of American Jews who married between 1996 and 2001 did so outside of their faith. While intermarriage affects only 6% of the Orthodox community, it reaches 32% of Conservative, 46% of Reform, and 49% of secular Jewish households.

Will our grandchildren be Jews?

The number of intermarriages continues to grow (in 1970 only 13% of American Jews intermarried), and only 13% of the grandchildren of intermarried couples continue to identify themselves as Jews.

To respond to this crisis intermarriage, we must encourage intra-marriage. The Philadelphia Jewish Voice has already written about Jdate which is an online Matchmaking service created in 1997. We are now pleased to announce two new online Matchmaking tools at your disposition.

The JMom: Geared towards Jewish parents and their single children, the site offers a unique, but old-fashioned, concept: “Let Mom decide.”

My Jewish Matches: 100% free, Independently funded, not-for-profit, online matchmaking service for Jews of any denomination. Members are certified to be Jewish, single with no criminal record.

Details Follow the Jump. Point. Click. Love. While dating sites have been around and grown increasingly popular throughout the past decade, there has never been a Jewish site that gave exclusive access to parents and made dating an official family affair. Until now.

The JMom breaks the mold of standard Internet matchmaking. Geared specifically toward Jewish parents and their single sons and daughters, the site offers a unique, but old-fashioned, concept: “Let Mom decide.”

“More parents are recognizing that making connections online can lead to love off- line,” said Danielle Weisberg, co-founder of TheJMom. “TheJMom.com puts parents behind the keyboard and lets them do the clicking and the matching.”

The goal of the site is to create a network of Jewish parents across the country who share a passion for finding their sons and/or daughters love. Members can browse prospective partners by city, email other parents for more information and take the initiative to set up dates. As a limited-time launch offer, from now until January 1, 2011, new members can receive free one year access. Moms – and their sons and/or daughters – can explore the site for free while home for the holidays and start 2011 off with a promising new dating scene.

Through exploring, Moms will find the site easy to navigate with three simple steps to begin the search:

Sign Up: Enter an email address and choose a password

Fill Out Your Information: Develop the profile of your son or daughter, and upload his or her photo.

Find a Match!: Use search tools to find the perfect match

You can browse potential partners in your child’s city, email their parents for more information about their children and family, and set them up on a casual date. All correspondence goes through the parents – so you would receive a message from another parent or vice versa. If/when both parents agree that their children might be a good match for each other, they can click an option in the message that says “Let’s set them up.” From there it is up to the kids to exchange messages, meet and determine if they are compatible.

TheJMom was launched in 2010 by siblings, Brad and Danielle Weisberg, and their good friend and programmer, Matt.

A year earlier, Brad and Danielle’s mother, Barbara, had asked numerous times to look at Brad’s online dating profile and search the site to see if she could find the perfect girl for him. Brad finally gave in and let her go to town, searching the site as she pleased. Two hours later, Brad came back to check on Mom and found her still completely engaged with the computer, searching with a list of about 10 different girls for him to contact. She had put more effort and time into the process than he could or ever would, and she enjoyed doing it. That was their first Ah-Ha moment. Additionally, Brad and Danielle’s Aunt Elaine set up her son Michael with a nice girl and two years later they got married. Hmmm…maybe Mom knows something we don’t?!

Dating is not easy these days for young professionals. It takes lots of time, money, and can be very stressful.

“Moms have been setting up their children for centuries,” said Weisberg. “We’ve made it simple for Mom to get online, and start hand-picking her son or daughter’s next date.”

My Jewish Matches is the only 100% All Free, Jewish Relationship for Marriage Website that pre-qualifies its members to be Jewish and Single. Most so-called “Jewish” Dating websites do not pre-qualify their members and some even offer “willing to convert” as a membership category. As a result, anyone who signs up for these dating websites can join, whether they are Jewish or not, without qualification.

Unfortunately, many Jewish dating websites are charging high membership fees during difficult economic times. A group of single Jewish professionals with Rabbinical input felt it was time to finally take a stand and respond by creating a not for profit, 100% completely free, pre-qualified Jewish-Singles-Only Website, regardless of religious affiliation. There are no false or expired profiles as all members are current and real! My Jewish Matches has a maximum three-month non-visit policy and standards to screen and qualify all prospective members through a very brief questionnaire. Anyone who is not Jewish, is currently married or separated, has withheld a divorce from an ex-spouse for money or custody, has a criminal record or a history of violence is not allowed to join. My Jewish Matches is a completely funded and full-service International Jewish Relationship website with no charges of any kind ever.

The dedicated volunteers at My Jewish Matches have spent two years developing the My Jewish Matches.Com website as “The Jewish Singles Meeting Place” and have successfully elevated the standards in Jewish Dating Websites. As they are non-profit, they do not have to accept membership from just anyone because they are willing to pay. The website was created for one purpose – to serve the world-wide Jewish Community by introducing Jews and encouraging them to meet and marry other Jews

The website just started a few months ago, but already has created its first match: Noach (member 108) and Irene (member 73) from Israel are soon to be married in Israel. Mazel Tov to the Happy Couple and Yasher Koach to My Jewish Matches.